Amazon feather issue

Question
One of my Amazon's feathers is out of place.  Sometimes she's able to tuck it under and it looks normal but it appears she should be loosing it but its not falling out.  I heard that this is dangerous and she can die from it so I tried to pull it out yesterday.  I only tried once, it didnt come out, she screamed and I felt terrible.  Should I leave it or can it potentially kill her?  There's no blood on the bottome of the cage, I'm not sure if there is any at the base of the feather.  Will it fall out on its own? or should I try to pluck it again?

Answer
Hi there... sometimes this happens and usually it's not a huge issue.  When they flap their wings or float to the floor (if clipped) sometimes a feather will go out of place.  Unless it's bleeding, you should just leave it alone.  Try to check the shaft of the feather down near the skin and see if its dark or light.  If it's dark, then it's a blood feather, if it's light, then it's a mature feather.  Either way, unless she's bleeding, you should just leave well enough alone.  A mature looking feather isn't always ready to come out and there's really no reason to pull it out.  If it causes her any discomfort, she's likely to pull it out herself.  

If it is a blood feather and is bleeding, or she bumps it and injures it in the future then you should try to stop the bleeding first.  Grab some cornstarch or flour (regular kitchen flour), apply it to the source of the blood and apply pressure for 2 - 3 minutes.  You may need to towel her (have someone assist you) in order to keep pressure on for that long.  Be sure if you towel her you don't hold her around the belly at all.  Birds need to move their bellies, chests in order to breathe properly.  

If you're unsure how to towel a bird properly, google the process, there are few websites out there illustrating how to do it properly.  Just be sure you know what you're doing before you do it, or you could injure her.  Also, don't keep her toweled for too long or if she seems to be wriggling around a lot or stressed out, give her a break.  You do not want to over stress her.

If you cannot stop the bleeding after applying pressure, you'll need to pull the feather.  I usually recommend only having an avian vet do this as if the feather breaks where it erupts from the skin, this can indeed turn into a dire situation.  If you decide to do it yourself, you need to pull it straight out parallel to how it comes out of the skin, similar to removing a splinter.  Use locking forceps, hemostat or last resort, needle nose pliers (be sure to clean any of these by rubbing some alcohol on the tips first).  Try to get the feather out in your first pull.  And then be ready to apply some cornstarch or flour to the empty shaft applying pressure.

I hope this helps!